A New Look for Rodney the Ram

A new look for Rodney the Ram

In 2010, we asked for your opinion on what a new, improved Rodney the Ram mascot should look like — and you delivered. Nearly 1,300 students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members responded with their thoughts on what kind of mascot would best represent Virginia Commonwealth University.

Respondents favor a well-rounded mascot personality — not too silly but not too scary — with “fun-loving and wild” and “fierce” selected as the most popular adjectives to describe a new Rodney.

The majority of respondents preferred a ram with hands and sneakers instead of front and hind hooves.

Rodney’s horns received the biggest critique, with a wish to make them less mouse- or shrimp-like and more realistic.

Using your feedback, VCU Athletics and the VCU Division of University Relations teamed up to create a new look for Rodney the Ram that gives fans a fun and friendly attitude while reserving a fierce streak for the competition. Rodney is still as hardheaded and spirited as ever and ready to start a new era with VCU in the Atlantic 10 Conference. He’s renewed, reenergized and raring to go!

Want to know a little more about Rodney’s history?

Rodney the Ram was born in 1963 to the Richmond Professional Institute and replaced the early mascot known as the Green Devil. He originally wore the school’s colors — blue and grey — until RPI merged with the Medical College of Virginia in 1968, and the color scheme was changed to the current black and gold. Rodney has had various companion mascots over the years, including Rhonda the Ewe and Air Rodney.